Weekend

It has been ages since i got onto this blog. My last post was on Feb 20th. Around 8 months ago. I think i am going to start getting on this blog again. It has been a great great weekend. We spent the night here in the city. Last night, we did go out for some Indian food to this restaurant called Cooper Chimney somewhere around the 27th and Lex. The food was pretty decent but the company was good. As you grow older, friends are hard to come by but you certainly try and enjoy the ones you have. All said and done, it was a relaxing weekend. Last night was north Indian food and lunch today was South Indian food. The food was sumptuous and very very fulfilling. I will certainly go there again. The restaurant is called Tamilnadu Bhavan and has inspired me to get my ass back to blog. This restaurant is also around 27th and Lex. The sambhar was exquisite with little idlis in them. My kara dosa was delicious too. I went about tasting everyone else’s food and not one disappointed. The BBB and the Pongal were great and so was the Mooru( majjige). For anyone who likes to enjoy the spicy food with beer, they had Taj Mahal and Kingfisher. All in all, it was a great experience.
Good food, old friends and to be with the woman you love- what else would one need?

I haven’t written in ages. Don’t feel like. The world is falling apart around me but life goes on. Economies are folding, people are losing their shirts and markets are doomed. It is an endless cycle and we are all witnessing it. Why did it happen to someone like me who is at his prime? I haven’t been affected by it as of yet but I am sure that progress will slow down for all of us including my wife and me. These are sad times, 401k's are decimated and anyone retiring right now is screwed. The only silver lining is, it cannot get any worse. Or can it?
It is so freaking cold. I can’t wait for summer. My team sucks and I sound like a whiner.

Someone give me a blank slate?

It is rather sad. Why are they doing what they are doing? Why do innocent people have to suffer? Have we reached a point in mankind where this is the only answer? We are all human beings and I firmly believe that we are born with the same soul, the same soul that recognizes good from bad and vice versa. Maybe it is because I am naïve? Maybe because I was never thrown into strange circumstances where I had to make the dangerous and painful choice?
India needs to wake up. India needs a new breed of leadership, leadership that evolves from a need to make this world a better place. Hindu, Muslim, Jew, Jain, Buddhist or Christian, it doesn’t matter a damn. We are all one. We just believe in different ideologies. Some of us don’t believe in anything but the good. It is that simple.

We need a clean slate to start again. Can someone give it to us?

Bangalore

I am in Bangalore. I have been here for the past 2 and a half weeks and I am all set to leave mentally. I would like to see my house. Things have changed dramatically here. Money runs like water and people are show offs. I guess it is because new money has arrived in the droves and people don’t know how to accept it and how to express it. The traffic is horrible and the restaurants are expensive. The dollar has chosen a good time to get stronger as I am getting a lot more bang for my buck.
The face of new India is encouraging but the gap between the have and have nots is huge. Hopefully India doesn’t fall victim to its own prosperity. The fabric of social life is vibrant but with it there are unstable relationships and marriages. I could assure you that Jersey is a lot slower than Bangalore. I was in Tirupathi last week. It was a great time. I was in Mangalore also last week. We flew Air Deccan which has apparently been taken over by Kingfisher. The plane had turbines and I felt like I would die. My paranoia for flying continues. They charged us for the sandwich on board as they are supposedly a low cost airline. The air hostess didn’t want to answer my question whether she liked her job or not. Maybe she thought I was Mallya’s spy.

I am hot as balls and my jeans are bothering me. I cant find my shorts. I am leaving on Thursday.
That’s it. Don’t have much to say. Have a lot to say but don’t feel like. I went to some awesome lounges in Bangalore.

Autos got more expensive.
Girls have bigger boobs now than when I was growing up.
Traffic is horrible.
There are plenty of restaurants in Bangalore.
The lounges are good too.
Nightlife is banned after 11:30
You cannot dance in clubs.
Kids smoke.
I had plenty of Kingfisher.
Girls have bigger boobs these days.

Africa

Africa my mother land, I miss you. Africa, the rain and the mud I miss you. Africa, the air and the sunshine I miss you. Africa, the road and the gravel I miss you. Africa, the barbeque and the beer I miss you. Africa, the soul and the body I miss you. Africa, I will not to forget you. You are what I am. You are where I want to be. My Africa, I miss you.

April 8th

We lost yesterday. We were swept. I can barely see. I am exhausted for some reason. When you play a team sport, you actually realize that it is not about you. It is about the team and you never fully realize unless you play the sport. I am happy I joined the team. I have joined the softball team and I go for my first practice tomorrow. I have never ever played softball in my life. For some reason, cricket wasn’t a team sport for me. It was all about me trying to be the best. This was 10 years ago. Maybe this is what we call maturity. I remember playing in the green fields of University of Zambia. Those were some awesome days. I was considered a terror then. It was fun.
Saw the NCAA men’s final yesterday. It was a good game. I slept late. My nets are done for the season. Maybe next year. Hopefully, things will look up. I need to sell my car which I have had for 4 years. Someone buy it from me.

Sunday, April 6th.

I have been sitting in the same spot for the past 5 hours. I woke up early today and since have read everything I could lay my hands on. Wiki is addictive. I really don’t know how accurate the information is but it is a good way to spend time. It has been a good weekend so far. I drove down a couple of hours down to suburban Philly yesterday. Met up with my buddy gawker. He was kind enough to make me an omelette which was spicy and I paid the price for it later in the day.
Anyways, we drove into Skippack village and then took the Perkiomen trail. It was a lot tougher than the 35 mile bike ride that we did last season. The trail took us through town homes, horse farms, power lines, forest and towns. It was a lot of ups and downs and more ups. It was about 16 miles in total and it was great fun. We finished it in a couple of hours. This summer, I will make sure that I do as many different things as possible. Biking, kayaking, rafting and some running. We are planning to go down to India in August and I would like to lose a few pounds. I don’t want to put a number to it as I tend to disappoint myself every freaking time. Pennsylvania is a very strange state. You get to see the whole spectrum of nature in a radius of 3 miles. It was an awesome day. It started off in the low 50s but the sun was beating down on us which made it comfortable. After these work outs, you tend to be thirsty. Gawker and I decided to go to this micro brewery where they make their own beer. We drank well and ate well too hence over compensating for the calories burnt.
I am back after spending the day watching TV, getting plenty of Andhra styled biryani, watching UCONN lose in the final four in the women’s NCAA, plenty of damn laundry and dinner.
Tomorrow is a very important day. There are a large group of companies that are part of a volley ball league. A bunch of misfits got together and made our team and we aren’t that bad. For me, it’s loads of fun as I never really played the sport while I was growing up. It does build camaraderie which is the main goal. Anyways, we have ended up in the final four and I am pretty sure we are going to get squashed tomorrow. I have to get my sleep.